Of The Cipher
by Candy-Vegetto
Summary: A year has passed since the Weirdmageddon. Now, Dipper and Mabel's school trip to the History Museum goes wrong when a wax figure of a chaos lord comes to life. The Cipher Wheel lends its power to those Of The Cipher. All they need to do is learn how to use this power, find the rest of the symbols, and destroy Bill Cipher before he becomes too powerful. Piece of cake.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

 **Dipper Pines**

* * *

It all started in a museum.

Doesn't it always start in a museum? Just a fine school trip to a national museum about history. Yup, a lot of ancient artifacts were there to keep me interested, while my twin sister, Mabel, groaned about my "nerd rant".

Well, I can't help it. I just wanted others to know what I knew of a particular artifact or statue. Like, how these blank white statues were originally painted with bright colors. It was proven, and it made sense that it had been painted a long time ago. I can't imagine people back in the old days making a statue and _not_ painting it. It would seem unfinished. This new discovery gave these statues more rich history to them. The paint had depressingly faded away a long time ago, but that's what happens when it stands for a thousand years. These statues were marvelous art pieces, to stand against time, and to be older than any person could be.

Speaking of things that could become older than us, I've encountered my fair share of immortals. Now, I know what you're thinking. That's _impossible_! Well, it isn't. In fact, there are creatures out there that have lived longer than us. Like tortoises, jellyfish, lobsters, whales, mollusks... and maybe some more that are undiscovered. And, I've met some.

Well then, I'm ranting again. Hopefully I don't do that anytime soon.

My name is Dipper Pines. And I'm a powerful sociopath.

Just kidding.

My sister would laugh at my pathetic attempt at humor. Well, I tried. Anyway, I'm actually tied to a prophecy that, well, I think, hasn't happened yet.

Why I say this is because a year ago, my family and friends fought against an immortal dream demon who could alter reality and destroy the world if he weren't trapped by magical restrictions. See, I've met immortals. Okay, maybe just the one.

I could give you more detail on that, but there's a lot... So, I'll spare you a summary.

You see, last year, Mabel and I were sent to this small town in Oregon called _Gravity Falls_. We spent our summer vacation there with our grunkle Stan, and while Mabel was trying to find her romantic partner, I was trying to deciph—I mean, _decode_ a mystery that was hidden under this wacky town. First thing that tipped me off that got me to delving into this mystery? Well, there was this old journal I found in the woods, which I later found out was written by my great uncle Ford. Second thing was the unordinary; talking gnomes, living wax figures, manotaurs (not to be confused with _minotaurs_ ), a multi-bear, video game characters that come to life, et cetera.

Now there were some obstacles here and there. But I managed to uncover the biggest secret, which was... Uh. I think I already spoiled it. That my grunkle Stan had a twin, who was my great uncle Ford, who was also an expert at the unknown and had spent thirty years trapped in a portal, which was the gateway for the greatest evil, Bill Cipher, to enter our dimension. Bill Cipher was the immortal demon we fought. _And_ defeated!

He doesn't seem threatening at first glance, since he's a yellow two-dimensional pyramid with an eye and a top hat. But he was as deceptive as the Norse god Loki and had as much power as an Egyptian lord of chaos Apophis. Bill Cipher was the _real_ deal.

And how this ties into my theory of me still being linked to an unanswered prophecy is because this particular prophecy had ten people linked to symbols that would destroy Bill. However, that wasn't how we destroyed him. We, uh... not exactly _we_ , but my great uncles made a deceptive trick against him like Bill did us. They decieved him into making a deal, which has him go into my great uncle Ford's mind, which was what Bill thought. Ford had actually trapped Bill in Stan's mind and erased all of his twin brother's memories, which meant erasing Bill.

Grunkle Stan is fine now, if you're wondering. He still has his memories brought back. My great uncles are now off investigating mysteries in the vast ocean. Mabel misses them. And I miss them too.

Anyway, the truth is, I don't think Bill Cipher is gone. The prophecy stated that we destroy Bill using the cipher wheel; a wheel of power from ten people who are linked to the ten symbols. We didn't use that and I think he's coming back because of it. It's been a year and Bill hasn't appeared once (well, not his lively persona), but I have this feeling he's gonna return. Mabel thinks I'm being a bit paranoid, and... _yeah_ , I was convinced she was right during the time.

Welp, since I know how this ends, I can tell you that she was wrong. And I was right. Because after that visit, the world would end in ten days. Which ties into the cipher wheel having ten symbols. A full circle, yippee... I'm one of the symbols, the Pine Tree. Mabel's also one; she's the Shooting Star. My sister got the better end of the symbols.

Together, we made for two important figures in defeating the chaos lord.

* * *

So, I said it started in our trip to the museum, right? Well, to not embarrass myself in an academic standpoint, I'll just be telling the important parts where I also embarrass myself in an international standpoint. Don't worry, it's all talk, I'm not _that_ humiliating.

So, it was a normal school trip to the museum of history here in California. It _would've_ been a normal trip, if it wasn't for Mabel and I being all tied up into this mess. The museum was huge, and had those giant roman pillars to give off that age-old vibe. My class was huddled together, following a tourist guide. As a sweaty thirteen year-old male walking together with other sweaty thirteen year-olds, the only comfort I had was Mabel being her optimistic self and the artifacts I longingly stare at.

Mabel proposes that I should marry them if I kept staring for too long.

"Hey, Dip-Dop, I think that vase over there needs your undivided attention!" Mabel advised as she pointed over at a specimen of the old greek containers. They were called Amphorae, Amphora if singular.

"That's... not _really_ an important vase," I told her.

"But it says here it's made of... " _keramik_ "!" she pointed out, mispronouncing the word "ceramic" on purpose. "Surely, that's an ancient metal used only in historical ages that need to be praised!"

"We still use that in our plates, Mabel," I said.

"This old junk is what are plates are made of?" Her eyes widened dramatically. " _Woah_ , talk about _recycling_!"

" _Mabel_..." I struggled to keep the ends of my lips from smiling too hard at her antics.

My twin gave off a hearty laugh. She raised her hands up as if in surrender. "Kidding, kidding."

Our class kept walking in and out of exhibits, only lingering for a few minutes before walking off again. I tried to look at as many artifacts as possible, with Mabel and her commentary following me by my side. She could go on with her friends, but after a while she told me she was actually scared of the place coming to life. She wanted to be close to her personal encyclopedia if the need arose. For some reason, I was feeling the same thing, that the whole museum would suddenly attack us. And I would need to protect my twin sister. It made me feel like the older sibling, which I like very much.

"Hey, _hey_!" Mabel energetically patted the blue vest that I had worn since my summer days last year. It still fit me after all that time. It was getting a bit tighter, but it's still something I held close and dear. Which was weird, considering I still had a few more of the same vests back at home. Mabel finally got my attention when she started pointing in a particular direction with a certain sad look in her eyes. "It's... It's..." her breath hitched.

I followed her gaze, and then realized that her eyes were conveying fear. A chill went up my spine as I remembered what she was pointing at. Across us, there was a glass case with a stone carving in it. As we went closer to inspect it, our class started to leave without us. Some of our friends thought it would be a good prank to play by not telling us they were already going ahead to the next exhibition. Mabel and I inched closer to the glass case, with the stone carving.

Engraved on it was a picture of a pyramid with one eye and a hat balancing on its top edge.

Bill Cipher.

Now, that was something natural. Bill Cipher was an entity that has existed... maybe even _before_ the universe was created. But, what ticked us off was that our symbols were the highlight of this artifact. Crude drawings of pine trees and shooting stars were made all over the stone, surrounding Bill.

With a hasty breath, I looked down at the gold plate under the artifact. Written there was the time period it was thought to be at, which was the stone age, at around 6500 BC. There was no further information, other than it saying it was when the triangle shape started popularizing.

"It's just more evidence that Bill existed a long time ago," I said.

"Dude... _We_ ," she stressed out the word, wagging her finger at herself and I, _"_ are _old_ _history_. We have old rocks _dedicated_ to us."

I shrugged at her. "Yeah... I'm thinking Bill is on us again. But, _your_ point?"

Mabel blinked at me surprisingly. She tried to find her words. "I think you're right. This thing is placed coincidentally while we're here. It could've been Grunkle Stan's or Grunkle Ford's symbol... But it had to be _ours_!"

"You don't need to relay that information to me," I turned around and sighed. There was only one thought plaguing me about this. "I can only think of contacting great uncle Ford to tell him about this, but it's still May. And he and Grunkle Stan won't be back to visit Gravity Falls with us till the summer holiday starts..." I rubbed my hands nervously. "...Who _knows_ where they could be at?"

"They're out visiting Atlantis while we're stuck here scared of Bill Cipher again..." Mabel steeled herself. "We can't be doing this, Dipper!"

"I thought you said I was the only one paranoid," I pointed out, scratching my head.

"Your paranoia is rubbing off on me! And I can't help but think what you're thinking! Maybe it's all just coincidence, but that's hard to believe now... All the evidence you've told me is persuading me!"

I looked around at the empty exhibit, realizing that our friends had ditched us. I patted her arm and signalled her to rush for the other exhibitions so we wouldn't get left behind. For a moment, I could've sworn I felt something electrifying rushed up my spine. I thought it was a shiver and continue to run around the museum.

We were able to find where our class had gone and walked behind them like nothing happened. I was suddenly not interested in the museum's artifacts and my eyes were glued to the floor. I couldn't even look at Mabel for reassurance, because she was turning into me. Well, only my paranoid side. She could've passed off as me if she had shorter hair and stayed up late every night to get the lines under my eyes. She was my twin after all.

" _Dipper_..." Mabel whispered, "...Do you think maybe one of our friends are possessed and watching us?"

I looked up and glanced around at my classmates.

"With how crazy they are? Probably." I squinted at the floor, all the while being so quiet that I can hardly hear myself. I hoped Mabel could still hear my hushed tone. "But they're not _that_ psychotic. So, if Bill did possess one of our friends, he's doing a good job restraining himself."

"That's not the answer I was hoping for..." she looked around dejectedly. I could hear her muttering under her breath. I could only make out her listing out names of our classmates, before she told me, "Hey, I think Chad was staring at us a minute ago."

I groaned. _Chad_. Half the girls swooned over that guy, admiring his blond hair, his electrifying blue eyes and chiseled looks. I kinda disliked the guy after I caught him staring at my sister multiple times, while she was oblivious to it. Sure, she may be cute, but I'm getting tired of him being a creep. He might be Bill Cipher, with his yellow hair as a change for the yellow eyes, and it _could_ give me a reason to punch him if the need arose. But I knew even if he was Bill, I wouldn't be able to touch him. Mostly because I'm awkward and I've never really punched anyone in my class before. I have punched other people before, but that was in Gravity Falls. Here, I may have my butt kicked in a serious fashion.

And then there's Mabel's theory that Bill is actually dead and I'm just actually paranoid.

"Do you think he could be it?" Mabel asked timidly. It wasn't like Mabel to be scared. She was the bolder one of us. There were times she'd be afraid of ghosts in horror movies, but she was the one more likely to blindly sneak around in a haunted mansion than me.

"Maybe Bill hasn't come back yet. And that we're just thinking too hard. I mean, we defeated him a year ago." And then I became skeptical after a month's worth of thinking that September. Classic, Dipper, _classic_. "But if it _is_ Chad, first thing I'd do is... well..." I held up my skinny hands to look at them and the spite in my tone decreased significantly, knowing that I really couldn't do much to threat. "...I dunno. Science the heck out of him?"

We fell silent as we had nothing to talk about anymore, both of us quietly hoping that this wasn't a sign of Bill's new uprising. We weren't even sure if he was actually alive. For all we knew, we could be fussing over nothing.

I let my mind wander off and picked up a bit of what the guys in front of us were talking about.

"...that statue over there doesn't seem real... seems too small to be something important."

"And why would anyone make that detail with the eye?"

I immediately darted my eyes over to any displays I didn't look at. For half a second that I wasn't able to find anything about Bill Cipher, I thought they might be talking about the stone carving Mabel and I were talking about a few moments ago... Until I looked up and saw a few familiar drapes. There were silhouettes of people worshipping a yellow triangle with an eye, fires blazing around them. I tugged Mabel's arm and she stopped in her tracks.

As far as I could tell, both of us were experiencing flashbacks of our last summer. I was shivering for a moment. Mabel pushed the small of my back and reminded me to keep walking. The banner went away from our sights and we were greeted by another sight. A small gray statue of a more realer than I expected look of Bill Cipher in a glass display. His one small arm was pointing outwards, like he wanted to make one last deal. I wished the glass case was reinforced with steel. At least it would've looked a lot more prison-like.

"How many statues does Bill Cipher need of himself?" Mabel asked with a heavy sigh afterward. She rubbed her head with the base of her palm. "I'm getting tired of all these _ominous_ hints of something."

"If Bill's trying to be subtle, he's not doing a good job." I replied, "But if he's trying to get our attention like the show-off he is, then that's a problem. He definitely has it."

"I came prepared," my sister said as she burried her hand into the sling bag I didn't mention. I have a backpack by the way. Details. Anyway, she pulled out a gray gun of sorts and my eyes widened.

"Woah!" I clamped my hand over hers, covering the gun away from everyone's sights. Even though we were the ones walking behind everyone. I had to make sure nobody saw my sis illegally pull out a handgun and wave it around.

"Cool down, Dip, it's just my grapple gun." Mabel stated, peeling my hand off hers. She revealed more of the gun to me and put it in her bag. "I wanted to make this awesome reveal, but you just had to ruin it for me."

"Oh," I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly. "But ya know that thing wouldn't be help in fighting demons, right?"

"Uh, _duh_ - _doy_ , Dipper!" she told me, "It's our escape plan!"

"That's so unnecessary." I remarked.

Our class headed to the next exhibit, and to my surprise, there was a life-sized wax figure of a giant serpent. Maybe because someone wanted to make Apophis, the Egyptian chaos lord, look real? I don't really know, other than the fact that some guy must've worked hard to create it. The snake was at least fifteen feet tall, not counting the rest of its body that's curled up. It was _huge_. It had giant eyes with black slits in them, and fangs that were as big as my whole body. The scales looked stunning, almost as if it were the real thing. But for some reason, he was painted red.

Our class awed and went over to take a picture of it. But our tour guide snapped at them and reminded that they couldn't take any photos. Still, a few girls secretly took pictures of it, while a guy stupidly left the flash on his phone.

"Well, if Bill wanted to kill us," I trailed away, gulping as I gestured to the wax statue. "This would be the place."

Mabel crossed her fingers. She ineffectively glared at me. "Why did'ja have to _jinx_ us like that?"

"I... well, I..." I stammered, before realizing my faults. "I've turned into one of _those_ guys."

"Well, at least you didn't say that the giant snake would come to life."

I groaned, turning my head away. "You just did..."

Some guy in our class loudly uttered, "Hey, did that thing just move?"

Mabel and I tensed.

I stared at the snake unwittingly, instead of running away like a guy with my knowledge would. But that would make me look like I'm crazy to my class, so I debated the matter in my head furiously. Mabel squirmed, and at that moment I saw a flicker of yellow in the snake's eyes. I considered trying to get everyone out. And oh my gosh, that was such a bad idea.

"Everyone, RUN!" I shouted.

The whole class turned to me. My face burned, and I could tell by a few giggles and mocking looks that I made a bad choice. They laughed it off, and continued what they were doing, thinking that I made a pretty average joke. Mabel told me I legitimately looked as red as a tomato, and she thought for a moment I was gonna burst.

My teacher gave me a glare. "Dipper, I'm _ashamed_. I thought you were better than that!"

I winced at her words. True, I wasn't good at talking to them and played the shy guy of the class. My outburst definitely didn't fit what my teacher, Miss Perla, saw in me.

Mabel put a reassuring hand over my shoulder.

"You saw that, didn't you?" I asked, letting out a breath I forgot I took in. My face still felt hot. My reputation was ruined because of that.

"Yep, I'd be lying if I didn't." she answered miserably.

"You know what this means."

Mabel nodded. "He's alive. And he's messing with us..." She groaned, taking a few steps back. Her hands went up her ears and tangled her hair, fussing her brown locks up. " _Why_? Just _why_...?"

"We have to get great uncle Ford and warn him about this." Then another thought made its way into my head. What if Bill already got them? What if, during their adventure on the seas, they encountered Bill and were lost in a "shipwreck"? It would be strategic of Bill if he took out the ones that destroyed him in the first place...

Sometimes, I ask, why was _I_ the smart one?

"Why doesn't he attack now? Save you the misery of being humiliated?" Mabel asked.

"Because, that's what he wants." I answered uncomfortably. It's been a peaceful year, and I haven't prepared myself physically for world domination.

Her eyes widened when she finally got it. "Oh, now he's messing us. He's _really_ messing us up." She narrowed her eyes. "We can't warn the class now. They wouldn't believe us. Ugh... and I thought it'd be easy telling Amy and Jenny about this. I'd look like _crazy_!"

"Yeah," I rolled my eyes, "I thought about it."

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that." she apologized once she understood what I said.

I looked over at the snake, and its eyes were yellow with black slits. I made a disgusted face, stepping back. I could still see my own eyes turn yellow when Bill possessed my body.

A girl perked up, "Hey, weren't those eyes supposed to be white?"

"Nah, they're normally yellow." another girl told her. "Like real snakes. I think."

"Come on, let's go to the other display. I saw some more wax figures there." A guy told them, walking off into the other room. Most of the class followed him. Mabel and I were inclined to stay back.

She looked at me and I nodded at her.

I stared right up at the chaos lord's golden eyes. "Hey, Bill, if you're in there... possessing a wax figure?" In hindsight, that didn't make sense to me. A wax figure was inanimate. How could Bill possess that? "Maybe it's one of those enchanted ones like the ones we melted back in Gravity Falls, but if you're there. Please respond. We'd like to know in advance that you're really there and we're not just hallucinating."

Mabel gave me the half-closed eyes look. "Really?"

"Well, what else do you think would work?" I asked her.

The ground rumbled beneath us. We looked up at the red snake guy, which had its eyes pinned to us. We stumbled back, noticing the cracks on the marble floor coming from the statue. Then, the wax figure breathed, and... _moved_.

"OH, I GUESS I COULD SHOW MYSELF NOW!" the snake exclaimed, loud enough for the whole museum to hear. I frantically looked for my class, and my stomach dropped. They all froze. I looked up at the snake and it had a wide grin on its reptilian face. It had Bill's voice, but it didn't fit the giant burly snake lord. "I DON'T THINK YOU PIPSQUEAKS COULD DEFEAT ME ANYWAY."

* * *

A/N: I made this because I lack the motivation to continue my other Gravity Falls fanfictions. I told myself that if I wanted to make this, then I'll have to write the next five chapters to prepare myself in case I don't continue this... Like my other stuff. But if I did post this, then hoorah! You're in for a treat. I probably only finished planning chapter 2.

ALSO, this is my first time actually writing a first person POV. It's satisfying. I longed to finally write a story that way. Now, how is the Dipper/Mabel POV going to work out? I decided to go **_Kane Chronicles_** -style with this and make it cycle between them. Every two chapters, they switch.

Don't forget to review, or follow, or favorite, if you liked this! And more importantly, have a great day! Because everyone deserves to have a great day!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 **Dipper Pines**

* * *

To recap, we were in a museum visit, and Bill showed up.

Color seemed to be drained out of the world as far as I could see. Mabel noticed too.

Anything that was still in color could move, like me, Mabel and Bill the red snake. My whole class was void of color, just a gradient of black and white. There was no one to help us now. We were transferred into a... sort of... Well, it's hard to explain. It's like a middle ground between reality and the dreamscape.

And I need to stress how despairing Mabel and I felt. _Nobody_ was there to help us. I had no solution to the problem. We were all alone in that gray room. I felt helpless. I couldn't say about Mabel, but I was sure she felt the same way. Except, she didn't stare too long like I did.

If it weren't for Mabel, I was pretty sure I'd be as dead as a sack of dirt (that was a bad analogy), because she grabbed my arm and pulled me away before Bill's jaw snapped at me. I didn't realize how long I was staring. Did I say Apophis' fangs were really _sharp_? Because they _are_. I don't think it's legal to put this dangerous statue in a history museum. Why does it need fangs that sharp anyways? I could imagine a kid walking into this museum with a balloon. Poor kid.

"AWW, YOU'RE STILL LOOKING OUT FOR EACH OTHER." Bill remarked. His voice just doesn't match the snake's body. They were both chaos lords, but they were completely different. "I'M GOING TO _ENJOY_ RIPPING YOU TWO ALIVE. FOR WHAT YOU'VE _DONE_ TO ME LAST YEAR!"

It felt surreal. It was like the first time we were chased by that giant gnome in Gravity Falls. That rush was there. I felt like I had all the energy I needed to bolt out of there.

Mabel and I turned and ran as fast as we could. But Bill-Apophis... or _Bipophis_ , as Mabel later named it, was incredibly agile for a being with such a heavy body. It slithered quickly, streaking its tongue at us.

Mabel brought out her grappling gun, which slowed her down a bit, getting herself closer and closer to Bill's onslaught. I pulled her by the arm, saving her from getting snatched by Bipophis. And I'm starting to realize how much I hate the name. It didn't roll off the tongue as nice. Maybe that's because it's how evil the creature was. I heard things breaking around us, mostly because Bipophis' giant body kept knocking them down. When this ends, there was gonna be one heck of a cleanup and I didn't want to be a part of it.

"C'MON, GUYS! NO HARD FEELINGS?" Bipophis shouted at us, diving into the floor and tunneling his way underneath us. I heard of Apophis doing that in the desert, but I might be wrong and confused it with another giant worm that did the same thing. Since Bipophis was underground, there was a chance he couldn't see us, so I pulled Mabel with me and swerved to the right, taking refuge in another room.

We managed to take out time to catch our breaths. My heart was _pounding_.

I heard the ground tearing itself open in the hallway we ran through. Bipophis' voice echoed through the museum.

"HEY GUYS! WHERE ARE YA?!"

Mabel rubbed the tears in her eyes, trying not to show her distress. But I could feel what she felt. I wasn't prepared, neither was she. How could a perfectly normal day turn into such a nightmare already? I cursed myself for tempting fate. I just _had_ to push Bill into revealing himself, didn't I? This was my fault. All my fault. We've tried running before, but at that time Bill caught us and used us as hostage against Grunkle Stan and great uncle Ford. Now, who'd we be hostages that Bill could make deals with? Nobody. We had no leverage. He was going to kill us.

"We need a plan. W-We need to..." She looked up at me, pleading with her glimmering eyes that I would do something. She took my shoulders shakily. I think she knew we'd be dead if Bill found us. Her grappling gun grazed my shoulder since she was still holding it in one hand. "Dipper, think of a plan!"

I looked at her in shock. She looked devastated. And she was counting on me to save the day. If you saw me, you wouldn't think that I'd be the kind of guy who'd save the world. But Mabel looked to me like I was her hero. Even though the tone in her voice didn't show that. I couldn't let her down, even though we both knew I had no way of defeating _Bipophis_.

My first encouraging words were, "Uh... we, um..."

"I CAN SMELL YOUR _FEAR_ , CHILDREN! COME OUT, COME OUT, _WHEREVER_ YOU _ARE_!"

The only way to defeat Bill? The prophecy of those ten symbols was the most obvious answer I could think of. The blue glow that came out of us when he were gathered together to beat Bill Cipher, it was guaranteed that there was something deeper to it. But the others weren't here. It was just the two of us. If we died here, then it would be the end. Bill would win just like that. Two symbols gone from the prophecy; no ultimate way of destroying him. If he killed us here, he would taunt Stan and Ford with it...

The walls crumbled around us.

"YOU'RE NEAR!" Bipophis' voice was louder. He _really_ was nearby. "I CAN SENSE IT! YOUR _POWERS_... YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM ME FOREVER!"

Our powers?

Before I could think deeply about that, I grabbed Mabel by the sleeve and started running. She followed suit, starting to pick up the pace. She was faster than me, so she was already in front. She could've outran me, but she didn't want to leave me behind. I glanced back. Big mistake. Bipophis was much closer than I initially thought.

"I'M NOT TAKING MY EYES OFF YOU ANYMORE!"

He was a few paces off by my tail. And I almost tripped. That would be _bad_.

"Chad!" Mabel shouted.

I didn't know why she said that, but we neared a wall, so I tackled my sister to the side, while Bipophis crashed into it head-first.

We skidded into the nearest exhibit, which was the one with the amphorae, the greek vases. I helped Mabel up, who grinned at me with watery eyes.

"I knew I could count on you," she chuckled, lightly punching my arm.

I was confused. Then I realized that Mabel thought that letting Bipophis crash into the wall was part of my plan. To be honest, that was just a lucky chance that I took because we were heading for a dead end.

"I... I don't think..." I panted, my body forcing me to quickly breathe in and out as much air as possible. "...don't think it's over..."

"Well, it did buy us some time. So, _more_ running!" she ordered, speeding off. I tried to tell her to wait a bit, but I followed shortly afterwards, not wanting to be alone in the room. When we entered the next exhibition, I noticed the stone carving with our symbols glowed blue and shook. That was _very_ noticeable when the whole world was gray.

"What did... you mean... about _Chad_?" I asked in between heavy breaths.

"Oh, I saw Chad. He was running." my sister responded nonchalantly.

I looked around at the black and white backgrounds, before bewilderedly asking, "He could _move_?"

" _Duh_. What did I say?" she replied, rolling her eyes. She hurriedly rubbed them, like she still had tears in her eyes after all that. "Chad was running towards us, and I warned him to go away."

"But..." I stopped myself there. Maybe Bill wanted a victim. He probably knew I disliked Chad and if he killed him would be a test to my conscience. I wasn't sure if I was better off without Chad in the world or not. "Never mind. That thing is glowing." I said, pointing to the stone carving. The outlines of our symbols glowed.

"You don't need to relay that information to me," she repeated what I had told her when we were here with the stone carving a ten minutes ago. I gave her a glare, which she chuckled at. Maybe my glare was just as inefficient as hers. We _are_ twins. Her eyes landed back on the stone. "Should we take it? It's ours anyway. Maybe there's some hidden power waiting to be unleashed."

"Kind of convenient," I remarked, before inwardly smacking my head. "Don't tempt fate."

Mabel eagerly raised her grappling gun and aimed it at the glass case.

"Wait! Maybe it's a trap by Bill..." I said, holding my hand out at her.

"Why would Bill want a trap so easy to find?" she asked, lowering the gun.

"You like shiny things. He takes that chance." I replied, making that quick guess all up from my logic.

Mabel nodded solemnly. "Good call."

The floor rumbled.

I turned and found Bipophis slithering towards us. "SO, YOU'VE FOUND THE CATALYST?" he shouted at us.

"Catalyst?" Mabel repeated, confused at the word.

"It's like... the thing that starts everything." I told her.

"Then, it's something important." she said with a new tone in her voice. It sounded powerful.

She immediately smashed the glass case with her gun and snatched the stone tablet off its pedestal. It started shaking violently with her touch, blue lights flying out of it and zipping around the exhibition.

"NOO!" Bipophis shouted dramatically, starting to inch towards us ferociously.

"If it _really_ is _that_ important, then..." Mabel trailed away, the stone glowing brighter. She looked at me in horror. I stared at her eyes in shock, they were bright blue with power. "W-w... DIPPER! HELP!"

In response to her cries, I seized the stone tablet in her hands. And then I felt it. Why it was shaking intensely and glowing so vividly all of the sudden. My mind zeroed in on the tablet, then on my sister, who I felt started burning up. All of my senses skyrocketed, taking everything in. My brain felt like it melted. My sister and I felt a connection, a sort of tranquility with this energy clicked in our minds.

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'VE DONE?!" Bipophis screeched, backing away from the blue energy that swirled in the air. It contrasted with the black and white, giving life to the scenery around us.

I mustered up my courage to talk back at the giant snake. My tongue dried and I think vapor came out of my mouth as I said, "Something you don't like."

Mabel and I both held the stone tablet, which started melding its writing. All of the drawings started to mix itself into two intricate drawings. A Pine Tree and a Shooting Star.

As our connection to the tablet straightened, Bill started to laugh.

"NO... YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING." he whispered with a cackle afterwards, sending chills up my spine. I kinda wanted him to explain what he was trying to say, but I got what he meant a second too late.

To my side, Mabel vanished.

The swirling energy halted abruptly, leaving me alone with Bipophis. I looked around for my sister. There wasn't a warning when she disappeared. There wasn't any fading away or a sound, she just... silently poofed. Gone. Not there anymore. As if she had _never_ existed in the first place. Did she die? No, no... she couldn't have. I knew in the back of my head, Mabel was lost somewhere. She's not dead. It's not possible. I... _I_ don't think it's possible.

I immediately grasped for any memory of her, thinking that she might have been destroyed by history and reality. But she was still there, still in my thoughts. She wasn't entirely erased. Sweat washed over me the more I lingered there. I turned my head at Bill, my chest burning with an emotion I haven't felt before. It was pure. Raw. Never in my life did I ever think... I would experience _true_ rage.

"WHAT HAPPENED?!" I demanded, throwing my voice out.

Bipophis sniggered at my anger, which fueled me even more. I started to quiver in outrage.

"WELL, ALL I CAN SAY, PINE TREE, IS THAT YOUR SIS CHEWED MORE THAN SHE COULD SWALLOW." the demon informed. "AND ALL THAT ENERGY NEEDED TO BE DISPLACED SOMEWHERE ELSE. AND IT DRAGGED HER ALONG WITH IT."

"BRING HER BACK!" I ordered, anxiously holding out the stone tablet. Then, I noticed that it was charred in half, the other side missing. I had the Pine Tree side of the stone.

"I CAN'T DO THAT. YOU'RE NOT MY BOSS." he joked.

How could he?

How could he say these things like Mabel was nothing to him?

I didn't know if it was stupidity or bravery, but I walked towards him and pointed the stone tablet at him like it was my weapon.

"NO! You listen to ME, you overgrown dust-collecting piece of _trash_! Bring her back, or I _swear to god_ —"

I was interrupted by his laughing.

"YOU THINK YOU CAN THREATEN _ME_? BILL CIPHER? KID, YOU WEREN'T THE ONE TO DEFEAT ME THOSE THREE TIMES WE MET." Bipophis exclaimed. "HMM. LET ME SEE WHO DEFEATED ME. YOUR FRIENDS, MABEL, AND YOUR OLD GRANDPA'S BROTHERS."

I couldn't help but feel like that was true. But, I was mostly the _catalyst_ to why he got defeated. I found out about the dreamscape's rules that led us to defeating Bill the first time, my body exhausted itself so that Mabel could win the second, and for that third one... Well... I can't really say I did much other than buy time for great uncle Ford and Stan.

But Bill was correct. Right now, I didn't have anything that could defeat him. We weren't in the dreamscape, or was he possessing my body. He was in the physical world who-knows-how, and just like the third bout, I couldn't even go up against him.

My fists clenched.

"There's a first time for everything." I told him with a growl to my voice.

For the first time in my life, something inside me clicked and gears whirred to life. That feeling inside my chest exploded. In a _good_ way. Energy rushed through my veins. I've felt it before. It was like back in summer when I held hands with everyone to complete the prophecy. Was this power the one locked inside me that very day... Now at _my_ control?

This feeling rose from my chest, directed itself through my arms, and shot out my fingertips. I blasted him with an arc of my energy, sending his huge snake body crashing into the walls. The cement crumbled against Bipophis, letting a few large chunks of the ceiling fall to the ground. It hit some of Bipophis' long body, creating cracks on his wax figure body. I realized that his body wasn't real, it was still a wax figure.

My chest and arms grew heavier. My head felt light. I was tired... I felt like a part of me went into that attack.

Bipophis snarled at me.

It streaked its tongue and slithered over. "IS THAT IT?" he asked. There was a hint of distress in his voice. But that went away when I couldn't reply, too busy breathing. His taunts just made me feel a burning hatred. "HAH! THAT _WAS_ IT!"

In the corner of my eye, I saw a boy running for the exhibit we were in. He was blond. And... oh, baby-blue eyes with a chiseled face? _Chad_.

I tried to tell him to get away, but I was too tired. Or I just didn't care at all.

" _WHAT_?!" Bipophis sounded surprised at the guy. "WHO IN THE CRATHEOS ARE YOU?"

Chad held up some kind of long, thick stick. It was brown. He had a wooden _staff_. I didn't know what he could do with it other than do some kind of trick. I doubt he had any training with a bo staff.

"Dipper!" Chad called out, and I was surprised he referred to me. That was the first time I had heard my name by him. It was... _strange_. "Take this staff! As for you, Cipher..." He tossed me the wooden stick as he glared at the cracked Bipophis.

I didn't know at the time if I was hallucinating or crazy, but Chad had thrown me a stick and faced Bill Cipher the next second like he knew him. I felt like I was being treated like a dog, by no other than the guy half my class had written love letters to. Or better known as the creep that kept his eye on Mabel for the past school year. The wooden stick fell into my arms and I began strangling it as if it was Chad himself. What authority did he have over him? Who was he in my battle against Bill?

And, wow, I sounded like some kind of arrogant knight for some reason there.

Before my very eyes, Chad chanted and blue started smoking off his shoulders. Already after I had discovered my affinity for this energy, Chad came along and seemed to perfect the same mystical arts I recently exhausted my body from.

Bipophis was confused as I was. "WHAT THE HELL?"

"Eert enip ot ygrene ym evig!" Chad chanted, pushing his arms out at me.

Suddenly, I felt a whole lot better. His blue smoke transferred over to me. My eyes widened with this rejuvenation, filling me up with energy. I looked over at Chad, confused. His blue eyes flickered and he passed out on the floor.

Bipophis looked at me for an answer.

My reply had been raising the staff, thinking of it as a weapon. And could you guess it? The staff wasn't any normal staff, it was a magical one! It morphed into a red-hilted sword! Now, how could _that_ have happened? Just some more things to ask Chad! Ugh...

Bipophis groaned as I held the sword in my two hands, and swung it downward at him. My arms seemed to grow heavier with that attack, but I could understand why. My own energy made its way through the sword and made a curved wave of blue fire. A slash of blue engulfed the wax statue and chopped its head, and the rest of his body right behind his head, off. My energy already plummeted back down to zero with that wide swing. But I was still able to keep myself on my feet, unlike Chad.

The statue's snake head rolled over to me, its eyes dilated with fear. I raised the magical weapon, aiming it at Bipophis' head. It was like a leaping ninja's downward sword stab, except I wasn't leaping, nor was I a ninja. For now, I just felt like destroying Bill and be done with it. I didn't care where he came from, I just wanted it to be done.

"W-W-WAIT!" the decapitated Bipophis cried out desperately. "YOU WANT YOUR SISTER, RIGHT? I CAN GIVE YOU HER! JUST WAIT A MOMENT!"

I hesitated.

"You can bring her back?" I blinked. I almost forgot she was gone. All that power went into my head, and I just acted... selfish. Wanting to take the limelight myself. I felt so ashamed of that. It didn't sit right with me.

"YES! I CAN!" he exclaimed confidently, wincing at the spiderweb cracks all over him.

"No... Don't listen to him..." Chad warned me while on the marble floor. "...Destroy him when you have the chance! _Mabel_... we can get her later..."

My curiosity had peaked. How did he know that it would be a better chance to destroy Bill now? And how did he know about Mabel? How did he even know _anything_? I had to make a choice here, trust Chad or make the deal with Bill... Of course, I had to pick the lesser of the two evils. Bill noticed I made up my mind and didn't hesitate to taunt.

"YA KNOW WHAT? HEHEHE... YOU DIDN'T EVEN BEAT ME BY YOURSELF."

And on that end note of his, I plunged the sword right between his eyes.

Color dispersed the instant I stabbed him, a rainbow of light overwhelmed my sight. I even forgot about the depressing black and white background. I had to shield my eyes at the new color, letting my eyes adjust slowly to the new world.

Everything seemed so colorful. Full of hope.

Chad got up on his knee, and panted heavily. "Dipper..."

"No. Let me ask first!" I didn't even act shy towards him. Anybody who could do whatever he just did was part of the supernatural. He was on _my_ turf. I didn't care if he was Chad, school prince, or Chad, secret magician. I just wanted _answers_. I just needed _one_ honest answer. "Who are you really? You can't just be some guy in my science class pretending to be a smart aleck. Were you really spying on Mabel?"

"You're right. I am not normal." He bowed before me. And I felt... _respected_. By a stranger, even! I felt like a king that moment. "Chad is just a name I went by incognito. But I am of the Cipher's energy, personified. I was created to guard you and Mabel when the need arose. And your _spying_ accusation is not far from the truth. I was studying you two... I studied you more."

"So, you're _not_ Chad. You're... _energy_?" I asked, completely ignoring the fact that he had just confessed to... staring at _me_ more than Mabel? I wasn't even sure if I was asking the right questions here.

"I am a personification of the Cipher Wheel's energy." Chad—No, that wasn't his name anymore...

"What's your real name?" I inquired of him. Certainly someone like him had a name, right? Or... not?

"I have no name." he said in a hurry, his eyes darting off to the side of the room. "But we must leave. The others can hear the damage we have made."

I guess I had to settle with the name Chad for him. I had so many questions. But that would take too much time to talk about, and I didn't want to talk to... whoever Chad was anymore. And he was already telling me to leave the museum in its wreck, but where would we be heading? Didn't we just kill Bill Cipher? Would where he would lead me really help in Mabel's... _return_?

"Where are we going?" I asked. Chad started jogging for the exit, and I snorted at him. He just ignored me. I had to follow, lugging around the sword. He still owed me bringing back my sister. My head felt light again. And just when I thought he had ignored my last question and I almost asked again, he finally and calmly replied:

"To save the world."

* * *

A/N: Boop! Looks like I _am_ continuing this. I've got an idea of what I'm gonna write for chapter 3-4 and an outline for 5-6, and some other snippets I'll fuse into the story... So, we're all set! Next chapter is gonna be Mabel's POV, like I said last chapter, we're gonna be switching it every two chapters.

Anyways, hope you have a great day! Review, follow, and favorite!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

 **Mabel Pines**

* * *

Mabel here, taking over Dipper's place. He did end it spectacularly, I guess. Oh well, it's my turn.

Ya know, before I tell my side of the story, I'm kinda mad at my bro that he didn't explain what we were wearing. But it was expected of him... He doesn't really care about fashion. And, well, I can't help but say I didn't either. During this time I didn't care how I looked, if I was alive then that was fine with me.

But really, Dipper's been wearing the same thing since last summer. His attire was the normal T-shirt of a vermillion tint, a puffy ultramarine vest, and baggy cargo shorts. He wore a brand new pair of black sneakers that I constantly told him to get, because his old shoes were getting worn out. I don't get why he's so stingy with clothing. The shirt he's wearing now has been in his closet for two years. I know this because every month I check his clothes if he's been washing them and I could always remember the small hole on the side of his shirt that I accidentally ripped.

He's always wearing a hat. Did I tell you that? He thinks it hides the birthmark on his forehead—Wait, has he told you about it? 'Cause my bro has a _wicked_ birthmark that looks like the Big Dipper constellation! That's where he got his nickname... wait. Okay, did he _even_ tell you that Dipper was his nickname? He's embarrassed by a _lot_ of things. His real name is actually WAIT NO—

...

Dipper just threatened to tell my worst secret on his part if I ever told you his real name. I don't get why he doesn't like it. It's not that bad or anything... Wait. Hold on...

...

Dipper just told me that my secret isn't that bad either. Gosh, I don't tell _you_ not to sound overdramatic! Ahem... _anyways_.

I was wearing my favorite violet tee that says "COOL GIRL" in cursive cyan letters, and some shorts. Hey, it's May. It's hot out here and I need clothing that doesn't stick to my arms and legs that much. It may not be attractive, but at least it's better than the winter vest that Dipper keeps wearing. And, I will confess, I did wear sweaters last summer when it's a hundred degrees. I was going through a _phase_. Everyone has their sweater phase... Alright, I'll confess again, I was _planning_ to wear a sweater that day. But I didn't, because I'm _sensible_.

I wore a pair of slip-on shoes, which are _really_ convenient to put on... but, they're not as good as Dipper's sneakers while running. Sure, Dipper may compliment my running skills, but I was actually slipping every three seconds. And those were darn lucky slips. I kept sliding forward. I don't know how, I just did.

Anyway, continuing Dip-Dop's story... Well, I ended up in this weird trap dimension.

Turns out that stone carving was a lot more powerful than I thought.

Um. _Yeah_.

So, I was alone in a place where... gravity seems wonky. Dipper told me that gravity is a force of nature that keeps us on the ground, and the mass of the Earth is so powerful that we gravitate towards it. Yeah, I sometimes listen to his rants when I need to nap. And I always seem to remember things better before I sleep.

As I was saying and not trying to get off-topic, I was standing on this giant chunk of stone. It was only, like, the size of half a basketball court, so it wasn't that big. It was floating off in this swirly purple dimension, and I have to say... if Dipper were here, he would question where the light sources are because there were _no_ shadows. There were other chunks of rock floating around, and deeper into this dimension... Which seemed to go on forever.

I was alone with a powerful artifact predicting my existence thousands of years ago, so I had no idea what to do other than to talk to the (How old was it? Never mind.) ancient, and I mean _really-fricking-ancient,_ stone. (A thousand is already a big number to me, m'kay?)

"HEY! If you can listen, can you bring me back home?" I asked the half-burned stone.

Of course, there was no reply. It was a stone tablet. _Half_ of a stone tablet.

So, I made up its reply by myself. Ya know, just like how I think of how Waddles answers me when I talk to him. Omigosh! I haven't explained anything about Waddles! He's a pig that grew up with me last summer. He's big now, so he had to go to the happy farmhouse! I visit him every week. It's okay, I made sure he's put in a safezone. It's a visiting center. No one one can harm my Waddles! Oops, going off-topic again.

I asked if the stone tablet could bring me home.

It said, "I can't do that, Mabel. I'm a rock."

"Please, magical stone carving! I need to get back to Dipper! He's in some serious mojo trouble with _Bipophis_!"

I felt a prickling sensation stir in my eyes. "I'm sorry, Mabel. I'm just a rock."

"But, _please_ —"

"No, Mabel. I'm a rock. I'm useless."

"No! No, you're not. You're _not_ useless. Don't let anyone ever tell you that!"

"Oh? So prove to me, Mabel. What have I done that's useful?"

My throat tightened. "Well, first off, you... You've got some wicked enchanted spells! You made me feel... feel powerful! You made me feel _everything_. I think Dipper felt that too with your other half—"

"It's always the other half, isn't it? It's always _that_ part of the stone and _not_ me. Nobody likes me."

"NO! Everyone likes you. You make everyone around you smile."

"You sound just like my other. _Always_ pitying me."

"He doesn't pity you! _Honest_. He does _not_ pity you. He loves you. He wishes you a better life than his."

"I'm useless."

"No no no! You make bright, colorful sweaters that make everyone smile! Without you, your other half wouldn't have made it where he is!"

"And your family and friends... they always have your back! They're always encouraging you, motivating you, pushing you to the finish line! You take care of your other half when he's down and not taking care of himself!"

"We... we make our other half smile."

"They all love you. We love them back."

I'm kind of ashamed to say it, but I was bawling my eyes out at this point. And I think I'd gone crazy. Like, _really_ crazy. Like, "talking-to-myself-and-denying" crazy. Maybe I'm... _bipolar_? I looked it up just in case. Dipper got worried.

Being stuck in a lost dimension, and right off the bat I've already gone crazy.

I don't like to think about it.

"And now, we're not on Earth. We're not anywhere near our loved ones. And I don't have any idea how to get back..." I looked down at the stone. "Except for you."

It stared back blankly.

It did nothing. No response. No magic voodoo that it did back in the museum.

Anger coursed through me.

"I HATE YOU!" I burst.

I threw the stone down harshly.

"Useless!" I spat. I tugged at my hair. "Useless _useless useless_..."

I had been a complete mess. I have to say, I was _really_ emotional. A friend told me it was because this dimension's time was wonky too. It plays with our senses. It could make five days go by in a second, or two minutes pass in three days. The real world and this dimension didn't flow together. If not for the connection, the dimension would've flown off, unseen, have decades go by in our five seconds or have two minutes pass in our three years. Or maybe time doesn't pass at all. Or maybe your mind feels as if centuries had gone by in mere minutes. I think that's what happened to me.

Speaking of that friend...

She walked over to me from the underside of the rock, surprised that there was someone else. I was surprised as much as she was. I thought I was alone in the world... er, I mean, _dimension_.

"Dipper?" I whispered, head still bowed down.

"My child. What is the matter?" she spoke in a soft, gentle voice, with a soft accent I wasn't familiar with.

I looked up and a tall woman in a gray hood wiped my tears with her smooth fingers. She gave me a warm smile. Even though her outfit wasn't that inviting, being only a gray cloak that covered her body and arms. Her pale and motherly face, however, warmed my heart, as if everything was going to be alright.

"I... I'm trapped here." I answered her begrudgingly. I traced a weird outline in the rocky ground.

"I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean." she told me, frowning. Her brown eyes were sincere, making my arms feel like jelly. With a single touch of my hair, she had straightened it and untangled every lock of my hair. It felt better, lighter.

Still in awe that there was someone else other than me in this dimension, I asked, "Who _are_ you?"

" _That_ is a long story," she told me sadly. But she gave a beautiful smile. "You can call me TM."

"Tee-Em?" I raised a brow at her. "That's a... a weird name."

"It's all I know." she told me. I turned away, feeling guilty that I might've offended her.

"Well, I _am_ in another dimension." I reasoned to myself. I held out a hand. "My name's Mabel."

"Mabel?" she raised a brow at me. "That is a very odd name."

I gave her a sly smirk for retaliating that smoothly. "I see what you did there."

Her eyes brightened at my response, like her very first joke had been successful. The light in her eyes kinda resemble stars. Not like the stars in space, but the shape of those simple stars... like my symbol! That was a sight I'll never get to see in anyone else.

She looked down at my right hand curiously.

"Why are you giving me your hand?" TM asked, scrunching her nose.

"It's called a handshake," I answered. She copied my form and put her left hand in front of mine. "No, uh... other hand!" I gently pulled her right hand to grasp my right one perfectly. "And then you shake!" We shook, and she giggled. "It's how we greet other people where I'm from!"

"That is a weird custom." TM remarked. She stood up and looked around. "I take it you are immortal."

"Hmm? No no, not immortal. Just a regular, young mortal child." I explained to her.

"Strange..." she said again, her eyes looking distant. "Mortals can't stay here. They don't have the capability to gain power to access _here_. No... can't be... maybe you just didn't know?"

"Well, if I were immortal, I'd know myself." I shrugged.

"You have got to be. No other way..." She held her chin in thought. "So that is why you act strange and look small." She crouched in front of me, observing me again. Her face displayed emotion like she was having conflicted thoughts. "You really are a mortal child, aren't you?"

"Uh, yeah. I-I got trapped." I explained to her again.

"Mortals can't stay here," she stated with a dark tone. "Too dangerous... We will have to get you back."

"You're bringing me back?" I burst into joy. "That's _awes_..." My newly-made smile faltered, realizing that I would be leaving my new friend here, alone in this odd dimension. I stared at her determinedly. "You're coming with me, right?"

"Can't. I'm dangerous too." she told me bluntly. "In fact, your skin should be burning up around me if you are mortal, but I'm guessing you have a magical charm. Magic is just as wonky as this dimension."

"You mean, like the light and the gravity?" I said, pointing at everything around me.

"Yes." She sucked her lip in. "Uhh... How do I explain to a child?" She brought up her hands, letting them free in the air. "Alright, imagine this as your dimension," she gestured to her left hand with her eyes. "Then imagine the other as _this_ dimension." She looked to her right hand, shaking it.

I nodded.

"Good, now... your dimension flows in a perfect line because it has a normal engine." She let her left hand slowly creep down. "And then my dimension does not. It has a special engine. It's faster, slower, disobeys the perfect line." She let her right hand dance around her left. "This dimension moves at a different frequency than the dimension you're familiar with. Only beings of high power can get here. All of these rocks came from your dimension centuries ago, but they've transcended lightspeed, ending up here."

I was still following her explanation, even though my brain felt fried. I nodded.

"Time here flows differently..." and then she explained to me what I told you guys about how time works in this dimension. "...you get it?"

"Yeah, I get it." I answered. "Dipper would've loved this place."

"Now, we better take shelter before night comes." I didn't expect that to be honest. I never really thought a dimension like this could have a day and night schedule.

"Night? This dimension has a _night_?"

"Of course. Well, that could be disconcerting. I take it you this is your first time in other dimensions?" TM claimed, rising to her eight feet stature and walking to the edge of the rock we were on. She looked over at the vastness of the murky purple space. I followed her, since I had nothing else to do but to depend on her to help me back home.

"I think I've travelled in... _others_." I replied.

"Then those others are not normal." she told me. The woman picked me up easily and carried me in her arms. She leaped out to space, and my heart jumped, thinking she brought us to our deaths. But gravity seemed to vanish the more we were in the air and we floated towards another rock. "Can you tell me the names of these dimensions you have mentioned?"

"I don't know what they're _really_ called..." My mind flashed to that one time I stayed in this happy dimension that had sparkles and rainbows everywhere. And then I had to escape it because Dipper showed me it was Bill's most disturbing trap. A trap you didn't want to leave. However, I knew another dimension which I remember the name of. "But I know one of them is the dreamscape."

TM's feet landed against the bigger rock with a thud. She gave a small harrumph in response to my answer. Her eyes were looking forward, like she was concentrated on something.

"The sooner we get you out of here, the better for both of us." she said, mostly to herself. "That magical charm of yours might expire... Are you sure you aren't immortal?"

"No... I touched a stone tablet and it gave me "magic", I guess." I explained, stressing the word "magic" because I wasn't sure if that even was magic. But yeah, it could pass off as it. "And you're right, the sooner we get back..."

I thought about how Dipper was faring against Bipophis. And how TM explained that time stretched around in this dimension. So a few hours could have gone by _there_ than the ten minutes I was in _here_. I didn't think Dipper could beat Bipophis by himself. And poor Chad, running around that museum with no rhyme or reason. I wasn't so optimistic about Bipophis being beaten, but I knew Dipper would be able to at least escape. He's not dumb enough to fight Bill head-on.

"What?" TM asked.

"...well, I just remembered that I _really_ need to get back." I insisted, "Something urgent."

"I suppose..." she narrowed her brown eyes in thought. "...something happened that made you activate this level of power... You were in battle?"

"I was... running away from it." I said. Then I played with my fingers. "I wasn't the only one running..."

TM's eyes widened. "You left your comrades. I understand that sorrow." Then she looked confused. "Okay, it may not be the same type of sorrow... But I know what it is like to lose someone. Even though, that is not the case either... the person I lost didn't die." She scratched her head awkwardly as I cringed at the D-word. "You want to return quicker... Well, there is a way. You just need to lessen your power."

I blinked at her.

"Uh... control it to a degree where it is compliant to your dimension." she tried.

"I don't know how to do that."

"Are you sure you are not immortal?" she tried again.

"No! I'm not!" I burst. "I'm just a normal girl that wants to go back! I don't even know what power you're talking about. I'm nothing special..."

"Normal mortals would burn up near me. Think about that. If you are still here, _perfectly_ fine..." She trailed away, realizing something. Her eyes brightened. "—What was I _thinking_? If you're here all intact, then you are the one with power. You wouldn't burn up around me, instead you'll fade back to your dimension the second your charm wears off!" Her smile faded as she suddenly remembered, "Oh, right, I forgot you had a magic charm. Then that "lessen your power" thing I said a moment ago is out the window."

"I can't wait it out! And I don't think I'm using a charm. I... I think it's a curse."

She shrugged, "Those work too."

"No! No... I'm... I'm tied to a prophecy. I'm an important key to defeating Bill Cipher!"

Upon mentioning that name, her eyes darkened. I could hear my voice echo the demon's name in that dimension. I shut my mouth immediately, chills running up my spine.

"Do not say that name in here. It is a bad omen!" TM informed, "You alert your presence like a foghorn. It is no better than waving a yellow flag with his face on it!"

I shrunk under her threatening stature. I was afraid she'd topple over me.

"But if you're an important key to defeating the yellow demon... And you're tied to a prophecy..." Her brain seemed to run its gears, before everything seemed to click into place. "You're one of the symbols! You're of the Cipher!"

"I'm of the what-now?" I knew she said _Cipher_ , but in what relation am I to Bill. I'm just an enemy of his, why call me "Of the Cipher"?

"This changes everything... Okay, now I know who you are and what your powers are... Could you do me a _small_ favor?" she asked, saying it as if it were a stretch. Her tone hinted it was impossible, but Dipper and I confronted those all the time. So, I went with it.

"Uhm sure. You're my friend. And it's a small favor. If this helps me get back home, then yeah! Definitely!"

"Oh, this'll help _considerably_." she said joyfully, "This task will drain a lot of power, maybe enough for you to go back to your home and beat the demon there. My favor will arrive... now."

TM pulled down her hood, revealing golden locks of mesmerizing hair. She stared off into the distance, and I followed her gaze.

You know those dementors in Harry Potter? Ghost-like creeps that look like eighty shadows in one place? Okay, there were about a dozen of them creeping from every crack and corner of this dimension. Through the wavy background that shifted away and closer everytime I move; from underneath the rock I first stepped foot in here; flying from undisclosed places... Uh, yeah. And it's actually _more_ than a dozen, so...

"Uh, what's happening?" I looked up at her scared, but happy, face. I realize now that it may be because it was the first time she's ever fought these demons with someone by her side. Maybe not the first time, but in a _long_ time. She gave me a determined stare, brown eyes glowing orange.

"It's nighttime."

* * *

A/N: Mabel's POV is simpler. I think. It's kinda intriguing to me. And also, a lot less innovative because Mabel doesn't use a lot of words _and_ uses a lot of words, but hey! I need to equalize things, so here's that. And TM has been an idea I had a while back... which I know is since last September because I had a story then where I thought to implement her. Her concept came from another character in the show, and her name is an abbreviation of her true nature. I'm kinda too lazy to make codes, so here's a mystery: what's TM stand for?

Anyways, have a great day! Review, favorite and follow!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

 **Mabel Pines**

* * *

I'm still here. Mabel's still here! Dipper says he'll cover the next one, so I'm here for an extended period of stay! Wait. Uh. Could you wait a second?

...

Dipper says this is the normal period of stay. So, uh, I guess I'll see you like this most of the time.

Which means I'm getting a chance. I'm gonna have to end this as spectacularly as he ended his part. Let me see, which part could I end this on? That epic part or this nice part? Oh, I have the best one. _That_ part. Teeheehee...

Okay, I was exaggerating. I don't have that many parts to my story.

So... nighttime in this dimension. I couldn't tell the difference between its day. Literally nothing had changed. But TM seemed to notice the changes. Maybe it's an immortal thing? She probably sees the world differently than I do.

"Yes, it's nighttime. But what the heck are those?!" I pointed at the dementor-like things. For some reason, I could sense how dangerous they were. Like one touch from them could kill me in an instant. But I knew that was _prepostrious_... propostrious... _proposterous_? Wait, I'll check...

...

...Preposterous! (Finally used that word!)

"Those are Wraiths." TM informed, "Ghosts of the night. We kill them."

" _Ghosts_?" My voice cracked. "I've seen ghosts before. We can't _kill_ them. And... they don't look like _them_."

"You have not seen _all_ of them." TM held out her hands. Spheres of golden light illuminated around them. I took a step back, the heat from her hands searing my hair. "Activate your powers, Mabel. You will need to exhaust yourself to get back home."

"How do I do that?" I asked.

"I do not know." TM admitted. "But you must, to get back home."

"What about you?"

She shrugged, "I can take care of myself. I have lived long enough for millenia to pass by me unnoticed... a few hundred more years would not hurt. But for now, night has come. Blood will shed!"

My stomach dropped. I felt slightly nauseated.

"HYAA!" TM spun and the ghost behind me exploded. Bits of Wraith pieces rolled over my hair and shoulders.

I shivered. "They... They leave _pieces_ of themselves?" I asked, aghast. Ghosts don't leave pieces. They're... They're _ghosts_!

"Yeah. These are Wraiths." she told me as if it was another piece of useless trivia. "They are physical beings. Hmm. Maybe they are non-physical beings in your dimension."

" _Very_ ," I replied.

"Focus on your power. You came here because of it. Now control it." TM told me like I didn't know that before. It wasn't very helpful.

When I held the stone tablet, my hand felt like it was being hot-glued to it. It burned me. Energy travelled up my arm and into my body, pouring its essence into my soul. My brain fizzled. My senses dialed up to eleven. It was like I'd been struck by lightning, which stayed there. Lingering. My soul felt heavier in that instant, then I think it adapted to its weight, and now I feel normal. Like nothing ever happened. I'm still Mabel Pines, and not the Mighty Cipher-killer!

I stared at my hands. They looked the same. Not the kind of hands a warrior or a witch or a goddess would have.

Ghosts exploded around me. TM was having her fun, pointing at monsters and havingg them inwardly explode. I wasn't sure what she was doing, but I think she might have the power to turn things into explosions. Quite evident when every Wraith that she pointed swelled up into a balloon and have their innards burst. I hope you weren't eating while I told you that.

I didn't know what activated my "Cipher powers" or whatever they were called. I only got them. And I was powerful enough to be stuck in a dimension where it took rocks to travel at _lightspeed_ to get to. Last I heard from Dipper, rocks traveling at lightspeed was scientifically impossible.

I didn't want to be here. I wanted to go _home_.

Home.

I didn't realize I had zoned out when TM shook me out of my daze.

"...Mabel!"

"Huh? What?" I looked around, and I remembered where I was. _Not_ home. I'm in another dimension.

TM pointed at a ghoul behind me. I heard a squirming sound behind me and a few bits of slime splattered against me hair.

"This is not working," she said. "Come on. Let me carry you." She scooped me up again and shot her palm at a creeping ghost. For a moment, I saw her golden aura pass through her arms and shot a halo of energy at the Wraith. Then it just vanished out of my sight. I thought it was my imagination, like when you're looking at something and thinking at the same time, then you see two pictures kind of overlap each other, while you know which one is reality.

But I know it wasn't my imagination.

I could see energy.

Dipper told me that energy is invisible. Anything you see is a form of light that is produced by energy, but pure raw energy itself can't be seen by the human eye. That's what went through my mind when I saw it. I saw pure energy with my own eyes.

TM kept destroying Wraiths by pointing at them. I didn't know then, but I know now how it happened.

She got us to a safe spot, leaping to a secure rock in the purple space. I could see my surroundings turn pink and blue, like the purple split itself. TM pointed at more Wraiths and they easily exploded. They kept coming, lurking from every corner. By now, there were probably over three dozen of them.

"How long does nighttime last here?" I asked.

"Oh. A couple hundred centuries." TM answered.

My eyes widened. "No. No, no, no... That can't be!"

"I kind of exaggerated. Just a few minutes. The day and night cycles change really fast." TM stated. "It _feels_ like a couple hundred centuries because I... _I_..." She didn't finish.

"Live here everyday," I finished for her.

"Yes," she said, and the tone in her voice made it clear that she was probably here since the birth of time.

"Why don't you come with me? Back to my dimension?" I asked. She put me down, and for a second I could see it again. Her golden aura rose.

"I am too powerful. Even if I try to diminish my power, I cannot get to the level where I can pass as a mortal." TM answered. She let her hands dance around each other, before pushing a palm forth and dispelling a third of the Wraiths. "My power never seems to waver." she looked at me sadly.

"If... If _you_ can't get back... then how do you expect _me_ to?" I asked yet again. I'm always questioning now... I'm practically turning into _Dipper_. It also adds that we look identical, because we're twins.

Again, during TM's jazz hand performance, my vision flickered and I saw her energy clear as day. Bright, powerful and golden. There was a rock hard point of power in the center of her body, all of it emanated into the air like fire, but collected in her hands like a tornado, and directed at the Wraiths like a stream of water. It all happened systematically. All in peace and tranquility. All in _control_.

I snapped back into reality, the colors blinking out of my eyes.

"I... I do not know..." TM answered me. I had forgotten I asked a question just moments ago. I guess that sudden, overwhelming input of information really fried my brain. But I learned something from it. I saw the world differently. I saw myself differently. I was supercharged by energy of the ancient times. I was powerful enough to break into another dimension. The point of my energy is my soul, and it was burning hot inside me, clawing to get out. I subconsciously feared it, that I realized then. Hey, it accidentally brought me to another dimension, could ya blame me?

"I should just _try_." I muttered, raising my hands.

I looked at them and found blue energy emanating from my palms. I've been leaking energy without myself knowing. I just needed to concentrate so that it would be powerful enough to go from weak wispy aura to giant gusts of wind.

I warped my hands around, making them dance around each other like TM did. She noticed and tried to tell me copying wouldn't work, but her eyes widened when I got to the part where I made an energy ball about my size. I held it up over my head, arms starting to feel like melting lead. Yellow spots sparkled around my eyes, signalling my fatigue. With the amount of energy I withdrew, I felt like I was holding up the sky.

TM brightened up. "Yes, Mabel! Just like that!"

Then a Wraith socked her in the face, sending her falling onto another rock. That Wraith shortly exploded. A couple more flew over to her spot, zapping her with dark electricity. It was like an inverse bolt of lightning. Instead of white, it was black. The immortal yelped and fell.

"TEE-EM!" I shouted, and that depleted half of my remaining consciousness. TM got back up, making the Wraiths implode instead of explode.

"I am fine!" she reassured me, before being swarmed by another pack. "You only need to survive the next minutes. Or throw the energy if you want, I will protect you if you pass out!" And then she sunk into the ocean of Wraiths.

I nodded tiredly. With my head bowed, I tried to throw the Mabel-sized ball of energy. But I instead let it slide to my left, letting the energy ball slip through my fingers like sand. My balance was off, and I toppled over. I watched half-asleep as my energy ball collided with the ground and shattered. Instead of exploding in my face like I thought, the energy just threw itself in the air like a gas, vanquishing any monster in a mile radius.

TM was left on the ground, rolled up into a ball. She peeked and found all the Wraiths had vanished, so she immediately got up and hopped over to my side.

To be honest, I just felt woozy. But not as much the time I actually passed out. I was close to coming back to my dimension, I think. The energy I dispelled should've been enough if I feel tired as heck. But I was still there in that dimension. Was I that powerful, or was I chained there forever? Or maybe TM lied to me.

"Strange," she remarked.

"What is?" I asked, sitting up.

"You're not back to your dimension." TM answered. She sounded really confused. As much as a Goddess could be confused.

"Oh right, this should expel my energy and stuff." I recalled.

"Maybe you have the same problem as me." she said.

I immediately darkened at that suggestion. "I'm not as powerful as you."

"No, you are mortal. You do not possess as many abilities as I do." TM said, "But there should be a way to bring you back. Like this rock, I could make it stop and it will vanish back to your dimension. There should be a way... You are not like me. You should not possess the same disability."

I was convinced that I was just like TM, and that I could never go back home.

"Maybe we should think this over at my place. It could give us a wider sense when we are at peace." TM heaved me up. "I might be able to recall some old memories."

"Yeah, like a thousand years without contact with other people could help." I remarked sarcastically.

My insides were _shaking_. You know how when you ride a rollercoaster and keep it all in? You become a nervous wreck. Next time I should scream to let that out. I was annoyed by how much my chest shook while I was drained of energy. It was a cycle of exhaustion.

* * *

TM brought me to her home in this dimension, which was just as ancient-looking. Since everything was rock, I guess TM did pretty good with what she had. The home looked furnished enough on a cave dweller's standards. The entrance consisted of a wide doorway that was cut in the middle, and a stone roof that lent towards the mountain it was built into. Going inside the house, I was...

Well. I dunno. It smelled exotic. There was a stone sofa by the side and a counter to a kitchen way, even though... she didn't really have a kitchen. TM walked over to her couch and chilled there. I followed and sat on the opposite side of the sofa.

Obviously it was hard. I mean, have you ever sat on a boulder before? They're not comfy. They're not smooth. (Although TM did a good job smoothing the rock couch for guests.) So, you had to sit there, on a rock, with probably jagged spikes poking your butt. Yeah, not a good visual.

Anyways, I noticed there were no bedrooms, nor food. Or light. Or anything that makes it a home. A better title would be to call it a _shelter_. Now that is something I could expect and get behind. I could do some free advertising to the other inhabitants of this dimension and maybe get some fans for TM. Probably boost her reputation as number one host for sheltering in dimension "square root of negative one".

"It's a... It's a nice house, TM." I managed to say.

"Thank you, Mabel." TM replied. "I pride myself in constructing house decorations. For example, if you see the carving over there..." She pointed at a picture of squiggles in the wall. "...you could feel it greatly captures the emotion of frustration."

"Uh- _huh_." I nodded. "I'm sure it does."

"And that..." TM pointed at another scribble. "...well that is just... Don't look at it. It's awful."

I smiled. I didn't want to seem like I didn't like her hospitality. In fact, I like it a lot. It's just... I was dealing with _problems_. Like how Dipper was fighting Bipophis. I was anxious about him. I don't think he'd last any longer the more I'm in here.

"Do you have any food?" I asked.

"We immortals don't need to eat," she responded.

I asked another question. "Do you have a bedroom?"

"Don't sleep either," she replied.

"Well, this is fun. But I need to get back home." I insisted, getting up. She pulled my hand.

"You do need to get back home. Now _relax_." TM advised.

" _Relax_? But what about..." I stopped myself there, realizing what TM was trying to do. "Is the key to lowering my strength _relaxing_?"

She shrugged.

I looked closely at her. In my aura-vision, I could see her golden light dwindle into a gentle flame. My energy was still pouring. I retracted my hand, massaging it and relaxing its muscles. Blue light seeped out of my fingertips like I just squeezed a sponge. I blinked, returning to reality, and looked back at TM.

"Your eyes turned blue," she told me. "Now it is gone."

"No, no..." I started pacing around the room. "That still didn't work. I don't have that control you have..."

"It may be different." TM said. "I am an immortal with too much power. You are a _special_ mortal... You exhausted your powers to the point where I think you should have gone back, but no... You are trapped here by some other terms. Maybe the way you came here, there was probably a gateway..."

"A gateway? Like, a portal?" I held my chin. "I didn't go through any portal."

"Yes. You supercharged your cells and came here." TM noted. She curled her fingers into a ball and knocked her forehead. "Maybe... _maybe_... There is an ancient dimension named Chaos. It is just a dark space under Tartarus. It also has her own voice... Have you heard her?"

I recalled the events when I got here. As far as I remembered, I hadn't heard any Chaos dimension or anything. I shook my head. "No."

"What about the stone tablet..." TM said. My eyes widened that I forgot it back on that one rock. She shook her head. "No, no... That tablet is a catalyst. It only speeds up the unlocking of energy potential given to the symbols. It cannot be that. I know for sure..." She contemplated at a few of her scribbles. "We might have to wait it out."

"Wait it out?!" I burst, flabbergasted. "I can't _wait_. My brother's in trouble!"

"I still cannot... think of anything," she sighed. "It has been long since I had anyone here."

My mind went into darker territory from that line. "You're keeping me here, aren't you? You're not gonna let me go."

"Gee, kid, I would _hate_ to get you out of here." TM said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. She stared up at the ceiling with her hands tucked behind her head. "I am a giant beacon of energy Wraiths want to tear apart. You are a giant beacon of energy that the Wraiths would love to eat up. Both of us together in this one tiny house? It is what you call _bad news_."

I harrumphed noisily, impatient. By Dipper's calculations now, my mind must've aged like... seven hundred years in the accumulative time I was in there. But, of course, only a few minutes had passed. My mind was doing a race, repeating " _I wanna go home_ " ten times a second. But I knew it was rude to say that out loud. It would've made me seem like a spoiled kid.

Suddenly, TM sprung forward. "I have gotten an idea!"

And then my day went from bad to average.

* * *

A/N: Writing this is harder than I thought. I have to plan out what story arcs I have to incorporate for Dipper and Mabel separately, while also being in first person, which kind of messed me up. But, nonetheless, I will persevere. I will finish this story, like... (peers over to the list of stories I've made)... well, I've never finished even a single one of them, but I will!

Have a great day, and as always... follow, favorite and review!


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Oh, my, god. How could I have just left this out to wither? I read this again and oh my, the _potential_?! What was I thinking leaving this story? I'm impressed, _past-me_ is awesome at writing. Now, I'm kinda garbage. But fear not! I'm continuing** **this story!**

* * *

Chapter 5

 **Dipper Pines**

* * *

Okay, I'm back.

Anyways, after Chad told me we were going to save the world, he led me to his car. That just... _existed_ there. He seemed to have created a driver's license out of thin air when I asked him about it. Interesting fact: Chad was born in 1986. If that wasn't disturbing to you, imagine a thirty year-old in a seventh grade class. Sorry for the imagery, but I had to get the point across.

Chad was _strange_ , but he wasn't really. He was just... _convenient_. Like Soos, but magical. I have no other words to describe him. He seems to be magical enough to have adults watch him enter a car and drive it like its his own without them batting an eye.

I got into the back because I didn't want to sit shotgun with Chad of all people.

After a few minutes of silence and fatigue from fighting _Bipophis_ , my eyelids grew heavier. And I passed out.

* * *

I woke up immediately. Gravity left me. I was about to scream at Chad for being a traitor, even though nothing in particular told me that this was Chad's fault, I just wanted to blame Chad. But I found out he had done nothing. Instead, my soul was the one rising.

I looked down and saw myself sleeping peacefully in the backseat.

It was odd to see myself like that. Do you ever have that feeling when you hear your voice through a recorder and tell yourself, "that doesn't sound like what I thought I sounded like?" Or when you take a picture and you see a different person than you imagined taking your place? Yeah... I didn't like how I looked sleeping. I felt weird. _Really_ weird, looking at my body. It doesn't look like my body. I don't _feel_ like it's my body. I wasn't convinced the guy sleeping right there was me.

I was kinda scared of the possibility that Bill possessed my body, but this was different. I remembered what it felt like when my body was violated by him, but I didn't feel violated now. I was sleeping, for real. And my soul actually exited my body.

My limbs felt like the television static. It was all numb. All I could feel was the crackle in my veins. Everything felt warm and... filled with liquid. It was unsettling, but I didn't mind it at the time with my new ethereal ghost body.

I looked at Chad, and instead of his usual self, he was replaced by blue fire.

My soul pulled itself into the sky, despite all of my protesting and my efforts to get back to my soul. And before I knew it, I ended up in this dark space-like dimension. It's not the dimension Mabel was stuck in. This dimension is called _Chaos_. And by that, I mean _Greek_ Chaos, which is a place and a godly being that gave birth to some parents of the Greek gods. I didn't know this dimension was actually _Chaos_ , I found that out later. But what I saw in my dream or... _soul-vision_...—I don't know what to call it—I saw a familiar yellow triangle residing in the middle of it all.

Bill Cipher.

He was just _everywhere_. I didn't want to start the story with him all the time, but this happened. I can't change facts, so...

Bill was floating in front of his friends like he was the general and they were his army. I remembered his friends; they had wreaked havoc on Gravity Falls last summer in an apocalypse situation called _Weirdmageddon_. Have I mention Weirdmageddon before? I probably did... _Anyways_...

I saw some unfamiliar faces in the crowd. They were newcomers or more friends that Bill had made on his journey to reviving himself. I wondered how he came back, when my soul floated closer.

I could tell you my heart pounded like a jackhammer. I wanted to stay back and hide, so I wouldn't get noticed and get zapped by Bill afterward, killing me instantly. I swore they could've seen me hovering over to them, but I flew into the crowd like I was invisible. A part of me had thought that my soul coming out of my body was Bill's doing, but it didn't seem like it. Bill was right in front of me at the time, and he didn't say a word about it. I was literally a _ghost_.

But I _still_ had a feeling that he knew I was there and he just acted the part.

Bill only picked out a few of the monsters I saw. There was a red devil, a giant snake that looked awfully similar to Bipophis, a big guy with snakes on his shoulders, and then a portal. I couldn't really describe them in detail in my visions, _heck_ I didn't even know they were visions and was terrified whether I would be able to get back or not, but I had a vague scene of them and that was it.

"SET," Bill regarded the red devil. Set is the name of the egyptian god of evil. So, I'm guessing that was that. No need for anymore detail. "APOPHIS," the snake snarled back, probably because Bill possessed a statue of his body. And I could see that Set probably didn't like Apophis by the way they glared at each other afterward. "TYPHON," I shuddered at that name. In greek mythology, Typhon was a giant who had defeated all of the greek gods without breaking a sweat. And he was friends with Bill Cipher? Give me a break. "AND CHAOS." _Chaos_... I didn't really know what Bill was talking about, but he referred to the portal as Chaos, so that wasn't good.

Basically, nothing good was happening here. This was the meeting of powerful villains in myths and stories!

"I'M BILL CIPHER, AND I'M SURE YOU KNOW THAT!" Bill swung his cane around. "YOU SEE, I'VE EXISTED LONG BEFORE THIS UNIVERSE EVER EXISTED. AND I'M THE INSPIRATION FOR YOUR CREATION! SO, TECHNICALLY, I'M YOUR FATHER. I _OWN_ YOU!"

"Pass." the red devil, Set, said. I didn't expect that, and I could tell Bill wasn't either. I also didn't expect how Set sounded. He sounded like the voice I had when I once drank a potion that made me sound like a narrator for a commercial.

Bill was surprised by that. "WHAT?"

"I could sense chaotic energy in you." Set pointed at him casually. "And Apophis is here..." He pointed at the snake monster. "...and I'm not really on good terms with him. So, uh, if you're planning on doing something that involves _me_ working with him, then _no_."

"BUT YOU'RE THE GOD OF EVIL. YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO SIDE WITH US." Bill replied comically, his eyebrow making an upside-down V and showing concern.

"Well, you should research better. I side with _Ra_ , a God of order." Set stated, holding up a peace sign. "I'm off. I'm not even going to put myself in this. And let me make a warning to you: if Apophis becomes something too world-threatening for my tastes, I'm calling Ra and we're going to put him in the corner."

I kinda raised my respect for Set after that, because his actions there meant I didn't need to worry about him because he'd be on my side; the good side. Which is really weird, considering Set is the God of evil and all. But I'd still have to worry baout the others...

Apophis hissed at Set. "You're going to regret that."

"WELL, _FINE_! I GUESS WE HAVE A DEAL! I CAN'T HAVE OTHER PEOPLE RUINING MY PLANS ANYWAY." Bill lamented. "IF I DON'T USE APOPHIS MUCH, YOU'LL LET ME DO WHATEVER, RIGHT?"

Set kept his eye on him, before turning his back. "Whatever. If Apophis reigns over the world, then..." he chuckled, "...Have fun with _world domination_ , without the world." And then he vanished.

Bill sighed, and turned to the other three powerhouses. "ALRIGHT, THIS MEANS I HAVE TO WORK WITH YOU GUYS. APOPHIS, TYPHON AND CHAOS. I CAN MAKE THIS WORK... SET UP A PERIMETER AROUND _SAN FRANCISCO_." he ordered, but I didn't know why he would need to do that in San Francisco of all places. It wasn't Gravity Falls. Was there something in San Francisco I wasn't aware of?

The rest of the dream had melted into visiting theme parks, climbing the sides of a mountain with Mabel, then being dared by her to walk on the rope of a cable car, which I did. In my dreams. Yeah, not sure how I remembered that one.

* * *

I woke up with a jolt, bolting upright in the back of the car. I didn't recognize the place for a second, but I did after a while, and groaned. The dream escaped my mind for a moment, but I could remember the important parts. I smelled something oily in the car while Chad drove. And from the look outside, I could tell we were on a bridge. We were going probably a hundred miles an hour, judging from the objects speeding past us. I knew which bridge this was. The bridge was on the way to... _San Francisco_. Not that I mind, I just wondered why we were heading there when we needed to get back to _Gravity Falls_. Which was the opposite way. And also the fact that Bill was planning something in San Francisco that I didn't know of, but I was dazed for a while, so my mind wasn't up to speed.

I rubbed my eyes and checked why the car smelled of oil and ketchup. I looked at the passenger seat next to Chad and noticed the complete set of fast food. The packaging was full of red and yellow colors. I sighed.

"You're awake." Chad noticed, watching me from the rear-view mirror.

"You bought _Uncle Grandpa's_?" I asked aggravatingly. _Uncle Grandpa's_ was a fast-food chain, popular around the states for its oily goodness.

"Well... Yeah..." Chad took a sip from his soda, which I noticed was upsized. "It was the nearest thing at the time... How's your dream?"

"You could have picked any other fast food restaurant in the world." I told him in the most ruthless tone I could muster, all the while ignoring his question. "And... you picked..."

"It was the nearest thing at the time!" It was weird to hear his voice say that. It was so archaic and deep, but it didn't fit his name. And, he grew. _Physically_. I could see the "5 o'clock shadow" style of a beard, which he probably needed to have, to pass as a driver. Chad tried to change the topic of our food to a more serious one. "How was your dream? What did you see?"

"How long was I out?" I demanded instead. My memory was hazy at the time, so I still didn't recall what I dreamed of. I only knew that San Francisco was _bad_. And more importantly, Chad knew about my dream.

"Twenty-eight hours," he answered bluntly.

I choked on my spit.

" _Twenty-eight_ hours?!" I repeated in disbelief. With that time, all I could imagine was what Mabel was doing now while I was sleeping, and how worried my parents would be. "I slept for twenty-eight hours? And you're still trying to get to San Francisco? We should've been there by now!" I peeked outside, "Look at the speed you're going!"

"I ran into some..." He shrugged his head around. "...difficulties."

I rolled back into my seat, leaning as far back as I could. The way he said it was like he encountered Bill Cipher and fought him to the death in those twenty-four hours, leaving the rest of the time dedicated to driving our way to _San Francisco_. I could tell you right now, that didn't happen. What happened was Chad ran into some traffic, had to refill the gas, got some flat tires, and went to McDonald's. (Of course, I'm still exaggerating. I actually don't know for sure what he encountered because I never asked.)

"Alright," my eyes lingered to the red-hilted sword I stuffed into my legroom. I needed to shift to a better topic to keep me and my anxiety away from thinking about Mabel and her whereabouts. Chad wasn't typically bothered by the fact that Mabel wasn't here, and I acted the same. So, I picked the topic of the wooden staff that transformed into a sword in the battle with _Bipophis_. "What's with the sword-staff thing?"

"Do you know the tale of Moses?" Chad asked.

"Uh..." I didn't want to show that I knew a lot. I tapped the sword and it turned back into a staff. I shuddered. "...it was a guy who parted the ocean?"

"Yes. Man who wrote down the ten commandments." He seesawed his hand like he was uncertain. "When he tried to influence the Egyptian pharaoh that God was real, God told Moses to throw his staff and it will turn into a snake." Chad drummed his fingers against the steering wheel. He turned back to face me, utter seriousness in his eyes. "You're holding the same staff."

I gaped at him. This stick was evidence that God and Jesus were real. And I had to process that information. Well, the supernatural was an easy pill to swallow last year, since I met them, but going into _Religion_... that was... _something_. "So, I held a stick that's _hundreds_ of years old?" I asked trivially.

"Thousands," he corrected sadly.

"Alright," I said, half-convinced. "What about Jesus?"

"That tends to be a more controversial topic. I'd rather not touch on that. It's something else that doesn't relate to us." Chad answered.

" _Okay_." I said, "What about my powers? Can I ask what's up with that? Because I don't understand it."

"You're tied to the Cipher Wheel," Chad said, confidently now, since it _is_ a topic he excelled at. "You're of the Cipher now. You gain its energy."

"That doesn't really answer my question, but I'm guessing that's all you know."

He nodded slowly.

"Great," I sunk deeper into my seat. "I'm stuck saving the world with living energy, and in return I get Mabel back. And uh... Why are we going to _San Francisco_?" I thought that if we should be heading anywhere, it should be Gravity Falls. Plus, with that dream thing I had, I had a gut-feeling that there was trouble waiting for us in San Francisco. "Is this how we're gonna get Mabel back? San Francisco?"

"No. But it's important." Chad insisted. I waited for him to explain, but he didn't look like he would. I didn't want to pry, but I had to. It was for the sake of my curiosity.

" _Tell me_ ," I begged him.

"No," he replied.

And that was all I could do. This was Chad I was talking to, but at the same time I felt more relaxed since this was older-looking Chad. I don't know what difference it made, but I trusted older-looking Chad more than _Chad_. I sunk back into my seat and waited for what Chad had to offer in San Francisco. As I did, I wondered about things back in Piedmont. What were my parents doing now? What about the damage in the museum? What would my friends think of me disappearing? But I wouldn't delve into that, it doesn't relate to the history I'm telling you.

* * *

Chad ended us up in a parking lot to some Motel. It took about an hour to get there, to which I counted twenty-nine hours down since losing Mabel and Chad telling me that the world was gonna end in ten days. That meant, at that point in time, there was two hundred and eleven hours left, which sounded a lot, but it's the equivalent to eight days and nineteen hours. Honestly, I was apprehensive about this—why wouldn't I be? But for some reason, Chad wasn't. It seemed like he was confident that my passing out for a day was no problem to the ten day schedule we had.

I thought of a plan to defeat Bill Cipher, which took me back to remembering about last Summer. The plan back then was to gather all of the ten symbols, hold hands, and hope for the best. Yeah, I know, _brilliant_ plan.

Then, that got me thinking about the ten symbols, which consisted of Mabel; my two _grunkles_ (grand-uncles); two people that were my friends who worked for my Grunkle Stan, Wendy and Soos; my Grunkle Ford's former assistant, _McGucket_ ; a rich brat named Pacifica; a reformed enemy named Gideon; and finally, _Robbie_ , who's an all-around jerk. By the end of this, we all have to be together to make this work. The reason last time didn't work was because my grunkles had a small argument. I hoped that none of that will happen again, and we'll get rid of Bill Cipher for good.

Unfortunately, my luck is garbage and my pessimistic side had given up on thinking about what would happen and already decided that it would be the end for everyone if something goes wrong. Which my gut told me _will_ happen.

Chad spoke up after the silent drive to this location. "We're here."

I glared at Chad. "Is this a joke?"

"I didn't want to tell you why we came here, because I know you're gonna dislike my reasoning, but I'll finally reveal to you why we're here..." he said, turning around to face me. "...someone already had their power unlocked."

That got my attention. That got me thinking that the reason we're here was to get a person from the Cipher Wheel, and if what Chad held was true, then I know of three candidates that I didn't want to see: Pacifica Northwest, Gideon Gleeful and Robbie Valentino. Then, I played a game of who I thought could get their hands on an artifact first, which brought it down to two. Whoever was in one of those motel rooms was one of these two people, and I was correct.

"Really? _Who_? Pacifica or Gideon?" I sternly asked, trying to look cool and smart. That sounded pathetic to reveal to you my motive for saying that in hindsight.

"You're quick. It's Pacifica." Chad revealed casually.

I took that answer in, remembered how Pacifica acted towards me, thought of Gideon after. Pacifica was your typical stereotype of a spoiled, rich kid who wanted all the attention to theirselves, but that was debunked and Mabel and her got along well. Gideon was a creepy kid who had power fantasies and did all sorts of horrible stuff to Mabel and I, that made whatever mean thing Pacifica did to me, pale in comparison. I didn't know what they had been doing after last Summer, since the last thing I heard from them, Pacifica lost her fortune and Gideon became a morally-gray person.

To me, I'd rather have Pacifica over Gideon any day. But I didn't know what Pacifica went through after losing her money. Still, I sighed in relief. "Oh, thank goodness. The lesser evil."

"You shouldn't keep that attitude, Dipper. You're going to have to meet the other "evil" soon." Chad replied, as he unlocked the doors. "I wouldn't want you to make petty arguments with them and break the Cipher."

"I already thought of that." I said, contemplating at the motel for a bit. "Do I go meet her with you?"

"The decision is yours. But I don't think it truly matters if you were out there or in here. You'll be sitting with her either way." Chad opened the car door and exited. He didn't shut the door behind him, which got on my nerves. But I was curious on how Pacifica was doing, and I didn't want to seem _so_ lazy that I stayed in the car for my first impression, so I got out and followed Chad.

* * *

 **A/N: Wow, it's been a while. Uhh... howdy. This is strange. Weird. Anyway next chapter we're going to meet Pacifica! Uh. Not so sure if I was going to end the chapter here, but... I like to leave it in a cliffhanger. Sigh. My writing skills are rusty.  
**


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